Named for the capital of Tajikistan, Café Dushanbe brings its distinctive cuisine to Brooklyn and does so admirably; I dined there about a year ago and enjoyed dishes with luscious sauces based on at least three different varieties of yogurt! The Kurutob alone was worth the trip to 1788 Sheepshead Bay Road in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; the closest subway is the Sheepshead Bay station (what else would it be?) on the B or Q train. Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $34 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Very Tentative Menu:
Tashkent Salad
Fish Salad
Flatbread Dushanbe, Fatir Bread
Qatig
Pan Fried Calf's Liver
Morkovcha Salad
Kurutob
Manti (Steamed and Fried Dumplings)
Samsa Gizhda
Home Style Potatoes w/Mushrooms
Lamb Ribs
Beef Roulade Dushanbe
Lamb BBQ
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

Filipino cuisine has proven popular with our group, so we’re revisiting an old favorite. Tito Rad’s is located at 49-10 Queens Blvd in Woodside, Queens; the closest subway is the 46th St. – Bliss St. station on the 7 train (followed by about a three block walk) or the 52nd St. station if you're coming from the east. Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes. Although they don’t have a liquor license, they do permit folks to _discreetly_ bring in beer and wine.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $32 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Very Tentative Menu:
Sariwa (Fresh Lumpia)
Sizzling Sisig w/egg
Lechon Kawali
Pinakbet
Bicol Express
Dinuguan
Adobong Manok
Inihaw Tuna Belly
Ginataang Langka
Inihaw Longanisa
Garlic Rice/Dried Fish Fried Rice
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

Let's get spicy Chiang Mai-style cuisine at Lamoon in Elmhurst! It's near the M and R trains at Elmhurst Ave.
Dishes *may* include:
• Crispy Baby Shrimp Cloud
• Papaya Salad with Fermented Field Crab
• Tum Kanoon: shredded green jackfruit salad with ground pork, homemade shrimp paste, tomato, makrut lime leaves, cilantro, and scallion.
• Thai Tea Pad Thai (with sweet turnips, black tofu, chives, etc.)
• Penang Curry
• And much more!
We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $28 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7:30 p.m. sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)

If you liked the old Phayul where you climbed a dubious flight of stairs, turned a narrow corner, and waited patiently, hungrily, in anticipation of snagging one of the handful of tables for some great Tibetan food, then you’re going to love the new Phayul. Technically, the address is[masked]th St in Jackson Heights, but you’ll find the entrance on 37th Road, just across the street from the old digs – which, by the way, are still going strong. It’s barely two blocks from the Jackson Heights/Roosevelt Avenue subway station on the E, F, M, and R lines and the 74th Street/Broadway stop on the 7 line. Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $34 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Very Tentative Menu: (N.B., It's a spicy cuisine.)
Bathuk Tibetan Noodle Soup
Gyuma Ngoe Ma (Tibetan sausage)
Yellow Laphing
Chele Khatsa (spicy beef tongue)
Shogo Khatsa (spicy potatoes)
Steamed Beef Momo
Fried Chicken Momo
Lhasa Fried Noodle
Fried Mixed Vegetable
Lamb Ribs
Phaksha Gotsel Ngoenma OR Gyarong Pork
Chicken Manchurian OR Chicken Chilly
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

Ever tried Albanian food? Want to? Well, now’s your chance because our next Meetup is at this charming restaurant that features traditional home style Albanian cooking; if you like tender veal and creamy yogurt, you’ve found a home. You may have read about it because it’s getting a lot of buzz in the press and having been there myself (twice!), I can vouch for its level of deliciousness.
Çka ka Qëllu (say “chka ka chuhLOO”) is located at 2321 Hughes Ave in the Bronx in the heart of Belmont’s Little Italy (itself a charming locale) about a 15 minute walk from the Metro North Fordham station or a few blocks more if you’re coming from the Fordham Road Station on the B or D subway lines. Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes. Is it worth the trip? Yes, absolutely. Read the reviews and see for yourself.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $35 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Tentative Menu:
Dips: Pepper, Sausage, Tarator, Ajavar
Tradita Salad
Fli
Tava Dheut
Fasul
Mantia in Tava
Kacamak
Qebapa
Qofte Shari
Skenderbeg
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

We’re b-a-a-a-ck! And what better place to spice up a new year (Chinese or otherwise) than Szechuan House in Flushing – and we do mean spice up! We’ve always been delighted with their food and friendly service and we’re looking forward to a delicious evening.
Szechuan House is located at[masked] Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens, less than a two block walk from the Main Street subway station on the 7 train. Note that we are going to Szechuan House, NOT the nearby Szechuan Mountain House.
Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $29 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Tentative Menu:
Poached Chicken and Crispy Soybeans w/Chili Sesame Sauce
Dried Turnips with Spicy Peppery Flavor
Thin Sliced Beef Tendon in Roasted Chili Vinaigrette
Pork Dumplings in Red Chili Oil
Sliced Pork with Chili Garlic Soy
Fried Tofu with Cumin
Jumbo Shrimp with Dried Red Pepper
Dan Dan Noodle with Minced Pork in Chili Sauce
Pig’s Kidney with Peppercorn
Hand Ripped Cabbage
Fried Shredded Beef with Celery and Chilies
Squid with Pickled Pepper
Chicken with Taro in Spicy Sauce
Braised Fish Fillet and Napa Cabbage w/Roasted Chili
Cumin Seasoned Lamb with Red Chili Pepper
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

Lagman House is New York’s first restaurant to feature Dungan cuisine. “Dungan” refers not to a geographical region but rather a Muslim ethnic group that settled in western China near “the Stans” bordering Russia. The language is an offshoot of Mandarin Chinese and is spelled in Cyrillic; if you can speak “menu Chinese” and read a little Russian, you’ve got it knocked, but rest assured that English is spoken in the restaurant as well. The cuisine reflects their geographical location with elements of Kazak, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, and Xinjiang Chinese all playing well with each other; we’ll be exploring a variety of noodle dishes, a specialty.
Lagman House is located at 2612 East 14th Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, about a block from the Sheepshead Bay subway station on the B and Q trains.
Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $34-$36 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Tentative Menu:
Ban Thon Soup
Rainbow Salad
Classic Lagman (hand pulled noodles topped with beef)
Tongue Salad or Ash Lan Fin (bean jelly and veggies) (TBD)
Beshbarmak (lamb with voluptuous noodles)
Huashi (multiple meatball personalities bobbing in a bit of broth)
Jin Momo
Tsomian (stir-fried noodles similar to lomein)
Dungan Style Samsa
Len Ban Ji (Dungan style cold chicken dish)
Manti
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

Let's go to what many (including Jim Leff, founder of Chowhound) believe is the best Sichuan restaurant in NYC! It's located in Whitestone, Queens. It's a little hard to get there, but it's worth the effort! If you take the LIRR (Port Washington Branch) to Auburndale, it's just a 1.4-mile (25-ish-minute) walk from there, or a quick cab ride, etc. You can also take the Q16 bus from *39th Ave. near Union St.* in Flushing. (Make sure it's a Utopia one.) For those of you with cars, there is loads of street parking available.
Possible dishes we *might* try if we get enough people attending (but no guarantees!):
- Wontons in hot oil
- Szechuan-style crispy eggplant
- Double-cooked sliced pork
- Chengdu fish and/or fried fish fillets with ginger and peanuts
- Bean curd home style
- Cucumbers with wood ear fungus
Please please please BRING CASH. Price may be $25-30ish per person plus $2 each to cover Meetup site fees. As usual everything will be shared family-style! Thus, we cannot account for food allergies, special diets, and such. ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME for slow buses, traffic, etc.

Sekuwa refers to seasoned meat that’s been roasted over a wood fire and Bajeko means grandfather, so we’re headed off to grandpa’s Nepalese grill! Bajeko Sekuwa is a restaurant chain that has its roots in Nepal so they clearly know their way around this hearty cuisine; note that this will be a meat-heavy meal.
They’re located at 43-16 Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside, Queens between 43rd and 44th Streets; the restaurant is midway between the 40th Street-Lowery and 46th Street-Bliss subway stations on the 7 line.
Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $30-$34 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring cash, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Tentative Menu:
Jhol Mo:mo [dumplings in a savory sauce]
Haas ko Chhoila [duck]
Bengali Fish Curry [tilapia]
Paneer Pakoda [cheese]
Chicken Chhoila [chicken]
Sekuwa - Hyakula [mutton]
Sekuwa - Bandel [wild boar]
Sukuti Sandheko [goat]
Eggplant Curry
We’re looking forward to dining with you!

Our meetup at Grain House, the remarkable Szechuan restaurant near Columbia University with roots in Queens and Uniondale, LI was such a hit that we decided to repeat it almost immediately so that more folks would have a chance to try it.
I can state from firsthand experience that their food is excellent. Could this be the Upper West Side’s best kept secret?
Join us on Wednesday, August 1 and find out!
They’re located at 929 Amsterdam Avenue between West 105th and West 106th Streets, a four minute walk from the 103rd Street station on the number 1 subway line. Remember to check the MTA website (www.mta.info) for service changes.
• We’ll be dining family style: Everyone will share the dishes that we order. Expect the cost to be approximately $30-$32 per person including tax and tip. In order to cover our fees to Meetup.com, we charge members $2 over the food/tax/tip bill.
• Drinks will go on a separate check and must be paid for individually by those who have ordered them.
• We order at 7pm sharp; remember to allow sufficient travel time!
• Please bring **cash**, small bills preferred.
• RSVP etiquette: We often have a waitlist of people clamoring to join us. Please RSVP responsibly. If you must change your RSVP, please do so at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you have an emergency the day of, please change your RSVP and also send the organizer an email through the site. That way, waitlisters have a chance at getting in. If you don’t show up and haven’t given notice, you’re considered a no-show. Two such incidents and you will be dismissed from the group. (And waitlisters who do get moved up, the same applies to you, so keep your eyes on the prize!)
• Tentative Menu:
Spicy and Numbing Pork Wonton
Cumin Lamb
Braised Eggplant
Oil Splashed Noodles
Hot Spicy Jumbo Shrimp with Red Pepper
Chinese Bacon with Garlic Sprout
Chengdu Cold Noodles
Chiba Tofu with Pork Belly
Fried Cauliflower
We’re looking forward to dining with you!